February 22 – The US upset the USSR in the Olympics, a hockey game known as the
Miracle on Ice. They then proceeded to defeat Finland to secure the first and only
gold medal since 1960.
March 18 – Fifty people are killed at the
Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia, when a
Vostok-2M rocket explodes on its launch pad during a fueling operation.
April 7 – The United States severs diplomatic relations with
Iran and imposes economic sanctions, following the taking of American hostages on November 4, 1979.
April 10 – In
Lisbon, Portugal, the governments of Spain and the United Kingdom agree to reopen the border between
Gibraltar and Spain (closed since
1969) in
1985.
April 24–
25 –
Operation Eagle Claw, a commando mission in
Iran to rescue American embassy hostages, is aborted after mechanical problems ground the rescue helicopters. Eight United States troops are killed in a mid-air collision during the failed operation.[19]
April 25 –
Dan-Air Flight 1008 crashes in
Tenerife, killing all 146 occupants; at the time it was the worst air disaster involving a British-registered aircraft in terms of loss of life.[20]
Iranian Embassy siege: Six Iranian-born terrorists take over the Iranian embassy in London, England.
SAS retakes the Embassy on May 5; one terrorist survives.
May 1 – "About that Urban Renaissance...", an article by journalist Dan Rottenberg in Chicago, contains the first recorded use of the word "
yuppie".[22]
May 4 –
Yugoslav President
Josip Broz Tito dies. The largest state funeral in history is organized, with state delegations from 128 different countries out of 154 UN members at the time.
May 7 –
Paul Geidel, convicted of second-degree murder in
1911, is released from prison in
Beacon, New York, after 68 years and 245 days (the longest-ever time served by an inmate).
July 9 –
Pope John Paul II visits
Brazil; seven people are crushed to death in a crowd waiting to see him at afternoon Mass at the stadium in
Fortaleza.
September 1 –
Terry Fox is forced to end his Marathon of Hope run outside of
Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada, after finding out that the cancer has spread to his lungs.
September 3 –
Zimbabwe breaks diplomatic and consular relations with South Africa, even though it maintains a commercial mission in
Johannesburg.
September 5 – The
Gotthard Road Tunnel opens in Switzerland as the world's longest highway tunnel, at 16.3 kilometres (10.1 mi), stretching from
Göschenen to
Airolo beneath the Gotthard Pass.
The Elisabeth
blast furnace is demolished at
Bilston Steelworks, marking the end of iron and steel production in the
Black Country region of the U.K.[38]
British Leyland launches its new
Metro, a three-door entry-level hatchback which is designed as the eventual replacement for the
Mini. It gives BL a long-awaited modern competitor for the likes of the
Ford Fiesta and
Vauxhall Chevette.
In continuous production since 1962, the last
MG MGB roadster rolls off the assembly line at the
Abingdon-on-Thames (England) factory, ending production for the
MG Cars marque.
November 10–
12 –
Voyager program: The
NASA space probe Voyager I makes its closest approach to
Saturn, when it flies within 77,000 miles (124,000 km) of the planet's cloud-tops and sends the first high-resolution images of the world back to scientists on Earth.
A record number of viewers on this date (for an entertainment program) tune into the U.S. television show Dallas to learn who shot lead character
J. R. Ewing. The "
Who shot J.R.?" event is an international obsession.
November 23 – The 6.9 MwIrpinia earthquake shakes southern Italy with a maximum
Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme). Officially, there were 2,483 people killed and 8,934 injured, though the deaths may have been as high as 4,900.[44]
December 14 – Four people are murdered and four others are injured by two armed robbers at
Bob's Big Boy on
La Cienega Boulevard in Los Angeles, in what is one of the city's most brutal crimes ever.
^Bignell, Victor (1984). Understanding systems failures. Manchester Dover, N.H: Manchester University Press in association with Open University. p. 79.
ISBN9780719009730.
February 22 – The US upset the USSR in the Olympics, a hockey game known as the
Miracle on Ice. They then proceeded to defeat Finland to secure the first and only
gold medal since 1960.
March 18 – Fifty people are killed at the
Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia, when a
Vostok-2M rocket explodes on its launch pad during a fueling operation.
April 7 – The United States severs diplomatic relations with
Iran and imposes economic sanctions, following the taking of American hostages on November 4, 1979.
April 10 – In
Lisbon, Portugal, the governments of Spain and the United Kingdom agree to reopen the border between
Gibraltar and Spain (closed since
1969) in
1985.
April 24–
25 –
Operation Eagle Claw, a commando mission in
Iran to rescue American embassy hostages, is aborted after mechanical problems ground the rescue helicopters. Eight United States troops are killed in a mid-air collision during the failed operation.[19]
April 25 –
Dan-Air Flight 1008 crashes in
Tenerife, killing all 146 occupants; at the time it was the worst air disaster involving a British-registered aircraft in terms of loss of life.[20]
Iranian Embassy siege: Six Iranian-born terrorists take over the Iranian embassy in London, England.
SAS retakes the Embassy on May 5; one terrorist survives.
May 1 – "About that Urban Renaissance...", an article by journalist Dan Rottenberg in Chicago, contains the first recorded use of the word "
yuppie".[22]
May 4 –
Yugoslav President
Josip Broz Tito dies. The largest state funeral in history is organized, with state delegations from 128 different countries out of 154 UN members at the time.
May 7 –
Paul Geidel, convicted of second-degree murder in
1911, is released from prison in
Beacon, New York, after 68 years and 245 days (the longest-ever time served by an inmate).
July 9 –
Pope John Paul II visits
Brazil; seven people are crushed to death in a crowd waiting to see him at afternoon Mass at the stadium in
Fortaleza.
September 1 –
Terry Fox is forced to end his Marathon of Hope run outside of
Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada, after finding out that the cancer has spread to his lungs.
September 3 –
Zimbabwe breaks diplomatic and consular relations with South Africa, even though it maintains a commercial mission in
Johannesburg.
September 5 – The
Gotthard Road Tunnel opens in Switzerland as the world's longest highway tunnel, at 16.3 kilometres (10.1 mi), stretching from
Göschenen to
Airolo beneath the Gotthard Pass.
The Elisabeth
blast furnace is demolished at
Bilston Steelworks, marking the end of iron and steel production in the
Black Country region of the U.K.[38]
British Leyland launches its new
Metro, a three-door entry-level hatchback which is designed as the eventual replacement for the
Mini. It gives BL a long-awaited modern competitor for the likes of the
Ford Fiesta and
Vauxhall Chevette.
In continuous production since 1962, the last
MG MGB roadster rolls off the assembly line at the
Abingdon-on-Thames (England) factory, ending production for the
MG Cars marque.
November 10–
12 –
Voyager program: The
NASA space probe Voyager I makes its closest approach to
Saturn, when it flies within 77,000 miles (124,000 km) of the planet's cloud-tops and sends the first high-resolution images of the world back to scientists on Earth.
A record number of viewers on this date (for an entertainment program) tune into the U.S. television show Dallas to learn who shot lead character
J. R. Ewing. The "
Who shot J.R.?" event is an international obsession.
November 23 – The 6.9 MwIrpinia earthquake shakes southern Italy with a maximum
Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme). Officially, there were 2,483 people killed and 8,934 injured, though the deaths may have been as high as 4,900.[44]
December 14 – Four people are murdered and four others are injured by two armed robbers at
Bob's Big Boy on
La Cienega Boulevard in Los Angeles, in what is one of the city's most brutal crimes ever.
^Bignell, Victor (1984). Understanding systems failures. Manchester Dover, N.H: Manchester University Press in association with Open University. p. 79.
ISBN9780719009730.